There is a dream we have; we see it with
The children – teachers mark uninspired books
And yet even with language in full cliché
There comes across, through repetition, “Look!”
Our world would be a better place – if only
Some simple rules and all of them followed;
Like, if everyone were friends, or better,
No wars existed. Oh, Father! Hallowed
Be Thy Name, but how much “Hello” sounds
Hollow when “Goodbye” to all agreement
Beckons and eyes are only strapped to grounds
For seeing flatness which is only meant
To be and nothing else. A dream we have
And nothing else: children evaporate
Into adulthood, forgetting, like old men,
The smell of milk from breasts, for empty plates.
James Sale, a 2022 Pushcart Prize nominee, has had poetry and literary works published in Hong Kong, the USA, and the UK. His work has appeared in The Society of Classical Poets, The Epoch Times, The Times Educational Supplement, The Hong Kong Review, The Anglo-Theological Review, The St Austin Review, and many others. An international and award-winning poet, he currently is one of two judges for the Society of Classical Poets’ 100 Days of Dante poetry competition. For more information about the author and about his own Dante project, visit https://englishcantos.home.blog.
Sparks of Calliope 
“Children evaporate / Into adulthood”: I like that – wish I’d thought of it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Anthony – as you are such a fine poet yourself, that is praise indeed!
LikeLiked by 2 people
A wonderfully evocative poem that, like a dream, evaporates with the dawn of understanding and light at the end–just like childhood. This is a kind of mimesis, where the content and form of the poem are mirrored. Masterful! I am also so impressed by the use of strong rhymes throughout that somehow don’t feel forced.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you – that is great to know: the rhymes are strong but not forced – a holy grail of formalist poets!
LikeLiked by 2 people
How subtle to have a single pair of perfect rhymes falling in the first and third lines of the third stanza, and to fall on “sounds” that are hollow. Also nice refrain with “hallowed” and “hello.” Great stuff!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for pointing out some of the verbal patterning that I am experimenting with – much appreciated.
LikeLiked by 2 people